Accent axed with a snip

It's a simple if gruesome procedure ... chop a centimetre or so off your tongue to become a fluent English speaker.

19 Oct 2003 08:04 GMT

Tissue connecting tongue to lower mouth is cut

That is the hope that recently drove one mother to take her six-year-old son for surgery aimed at ridding him of his Korean accent when speaking the language of choice in global business.

Driven by a desire to give their kids an edge in an increasingly competitive society, a surprising number of South Koreans have turned to the knife in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English.

"Those who have a short frenulum (a strap of tissue linking the tongue to the floor of the mouth) can face problems pronouncing some characters due to a disturbance in lateral movements of the tongue," said Bae Jung-ho, an oral surgeon at Seoul's Yonsei Severance Hospital, who operated on the six-year-old last month.

Bae said it takes about five minutes to complete the operation, called a frenotomy, which slices one to 1.5 cm off the frenulum to make the tongue more flexible.

"There is a razor-thin risk of complications and, unless it is the best option possible, we don't recommend it."

"I think it's gross. Mutilating children's tongues is not the solution. If a parent takes his child into the surgery and then, if the child is still unable to speak unaccented English, what would that do to the child's self-esteem?"

Robin Bulman,American living in Seoul

Bae said that he had received many inquiries about the operation, mostly for children aged between 12 months and 10 years. Of these, only 10 to 20% had led to surgery.

The doctor said he performed the surgery, which costs 150,000 won ($127), once or twice per month.

For a tangible improvement for those with ankyloglossia - the medical term for those with a short frenulum - months of language training is needed even after surgery.

"It takes time to see pronunciation actually improve as picking up a language or saying it properly is a complicated process to master," he added.

Excessive enthusiasm

Using surgery to enhance your looks is already very common in South Korea, where many resort to plastic surgery to make their eyes bigger, noses shapelier and even their calves slimmer.

In the case of tongue surgery, many psychologists, professors and native English speakers argue that there are many downsides.

Dr Shin Min-sup, a professor at Seoul National University who specialises in issues of adolescent psychiatry, is worried about the trend for surgery and also for pushing young children too hard to learn languages.

"There's the potential for life-damaging after-effects," Shin said. "Learning a foreign language too early, in some cases, may not only cause a speech impediment but, in the worst case, make an child autistic."

"What's wrong with speaking English with an accent anyway? Many parents tend to discount the importance of a well-rounded education," Shin said.

"English is now becoming a means of survival"

Cha Kyoung-aeEnglish professor

Robin Bulman, an American living in Seoul who has an adopted five-year-old Korean daughter, felt that surgery might hurt a child's self-confidence.

"I think it's gross. Mutilating children's tongues is not the solution. If a parent takes his child into the surgery and then, if the child is still unable to speak unaccented English, what would that do to the child's self-esteem?"